The most recent entertainment news cycle has been a particularly negative one. Christina Aguilera was arrested for alleged public drunkenness. Charlie Sheen is cracking up at a speed so rapid, we need a jet-pack to keep up with it. Americans everywhere -- at least the ones that lurk on the Internet -- have (understandably in most cases) blasted James Franco’s inability to generate a modicum of energy while hosting the Academy Awards. It's enough to make a person start to lose faith in celebrities altogether. (I know, you already did that years ago when John Travolta signed on to star in "Stayin' Alive." Whatever. Just play along.) Well, here's someone to give us all a little hope for the future: Hailee Steinfeld. And while she may have lost the best supporting actress Oscar to Melissa Leo on Sunday night, she still came out a winner for looking adorable and handling...

Melissa Leo shows up on Ellen DeGeneres's show today and discusses her recent Oscar win as well as the f-bomb that accompanied it. (Helpfully, DeGeneres put out a swear jar. Just in case.) Leo says that Kate Winslet -- her co-star in HBO's upcoming movie, "Mildred Pierce" -- is partly responsible for her Oscar speech slip-up. The "Titanic" star "curses like a sailor all the time," Leo says. Of course, Leo is joking as far as that blame is concerned. But perhaps it's worth noting that even the allegedly potty-mouthed Winslet somehow got through her Academy Awards acceptance speech without uttering the queen mother of all bad words....

The scene at the Elton John party. (Jen Chaney) After nearly four hours on the Academy Awards red carpet and four more in the press room, party isn't necessarily the first word that comes to mind. (Pillow is one. Vacation is another.) But this is the Oscars, for heaven's sake. And party -- or at least watch other, more famous people party -- is what must be done. The Post's Dan Zak and Amy Argetsinger navigated their way through the elite throngs at the Vanity Fair party, while I dropped by the Governor's Ball and hit the end of Elton John's annual Oscar viewing event. Here's what was seen and heard on my end of the Oscar party circuit....

TV fails to capture other red carpet realities. It's frenetic. It's loud. And for the reporters, it's incredibly cramped, so cramped that at one point on Sunday afternoon, it honestly seemed like a brawl might break out.

Colin Firth, clutching the Oscar we all knew he would win. (AP) At this year's Academy Awards, there wasn't one genuine surprise. "The King's Speech" won best picture, as pretty much every prognosticator predicted. Colin Firth was named best actor. We knew that was going to happen. Natalie Portman won an Oscar, too. Which we also knew. Even the sight of James Franco in drag felt like something we'd all seen before. Because, well, we had. So have the Academy Awards become too predictable, just a formal, fancy way to call out a list of Hollywood winners that were already foregone conclusions?...

Billy Crystal, back on the Oscar stage. (AP) When Billy Crystal made his appearance during this year's Academy Awards, he got a standing ovation. Clearly, his Hollywood colleagues love to see him grace that stage, a place where he feels very much at home. (Certainly, it must be said, more at home than James Franco often seemed last night.) So is there a chance he could host again? Based on what Crystal told me last night at the Governor's Ball, it's also not entirely out of the question. Related coverage: The actors' Oscar acceptance speeches: Who said it best? Complete Oscar coverage in Celebritology The Post's Hank Stuever assesses the telecast...

Sunday's Oscar broadcast was not, in the words of our own Hank Stuever, the youth revolution promised by the hot young hosting pair of James Franco and Anne Hathaway. (Which has us wondering -- will next year's show attempt to skew even younger with, say, Justin Bieber and Natalie Portman's baby hosting?) Despite all the young blood, some of the night's best moments were delivered by card-carrying AARP members -- one-time Oscar fixture Billy Crystal, a CGI clip of Bob Hope and a deliciously feisty Kirk Douglas, who basically stole the show. If you missed it, here's a clip of Douglas's segment, in which the 94-year-old screen legend gets more laughs in three minutes than James Franco got all night:...

Tom Hooper has just been named best director at the Academy Awards for his work on "The King's Speech." One can't say it was unexpected, since he won the same honor from the Directors Guild of America. But many still expected David Fincher to pull it out for "The Social Network" even if the Facebook movie ultimately lost best picture. This could turn into one of the more debated wins of the night. And, probably, another excuse for complaints about Christopher Nolan's snub in the same category. You know. Just because. What do you think if Hooper's win? Weigh in now....

Christian Bale is new to this whole Academy Awards process. He made that clear, in most charming fashion, when he entered the press room to undergo the gauntlet of post-Oscar-win questions. Why are you all holding up signs? he wanted to know. They're numbers, he was told, so the Oscar press room bosses can decide which reporters to call on. It's sort of like an auction. Do you win anything? Bale asked, puzzled. But he pressed on. When a reporter from People, who happened to be wearing a bowler hat, stood to ask a question, Bale complimented his head wear. Then he asked: "Have you been drinking?" The reporter played along. He said he had. Then it got better....

The Academy Award opener referenced "Inception," "The Social Network," "The Fighter," "Back to the Future," Morgan Freeman's smooth narration and the fact that Alec Baldwin takes Ambien. Among other things. It didn't reinvent any Oscar traditions, but it was funny; the "True Grit" eye patch moment got one of the bigger laughs in the press room. But what did you think? A strong start, or more of the same old, same old? Vote in the poll below....

Update, 9:25 p.m. EST: Read the partial list of Oscar winners so far It's Academy Awards Sunday. And that means the time has finally come to throw on that dress, slide on those moderately high-heeled shoes and park on the red carpet for an evening of ultra-high-wattage star-gazing, fashion assessing and insightful question-asking. (Sample: "How does it feel to be here tonight? And, in a related question, who are you wearing?) Actually, some of you suggested some great red carpet questions in the blog, on Facebook and via our #oscarspotting Twitter hash tag. I'll aim to post some of the best ones on the Oscar red carpet in just a few hours. Follow my tweets from the scene on twitter.com/celebritology, or right here in the blog. Two notes: The twitter stream will pull in all items with the #oscarspotting hashtag, including tweets from others, so bear that in mind. Also,...

Rolling Stone magazine hosted its pre-Oscar party last night at Drai's Hollywood in the W Hotel. Fruity Skyy vodka drinks were served. The Roots provided outstanding musical entertainment. And a number of celebs -- "Glee's" Jenna Ushkowitz, Max Adler and Harry Shum, Jr., Aaron Sorkin, Kate Walsh and Old Spice ad man Isaiah Mustafa, to name a few -- showed up to party in a dark club while images of this year's Academy Award nominees flashed on various TV screens. (By the way, when you're in a bar listening to hip-hop, the sight of Jesse Eisenberg in his Zuckerberg-style hoodie looks surprisingly gangsta.) During my time at the party, I learned five extremely important* things, one of which is covered in the video of Shum, Jr. below. Here's the list. 1. Harry Shum, Jr. of "Glee" helped choreograph last year's signature dance number for the Academy Awards. The guy who...

At Saturday's Independent Spirit Awards, "Black Swan" won declared the best picture. Natalie Portman was named best actress. James Franco walked with a trophy for best actor. And a multitude of exceptional famous people nearly froze to death, thanks to freakishly cold Southern California weather and some robust breezes off the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica, where the ceremony was held. As noted in a previous post, the brisk temperatures and (possibly the fatigue of one too many Oscar-season interviews) compelled many celebs to skip the Spirit Awards red carpet. But a few people stopped to chat. The always game John Waters, for example, was happy to share his thoughts about the Oscars/Spirit Awards overlap: And, as you'll see after the jump, both Eva Mendes and "The Kids Are All Right" director and co-writer Lisa Cholodenko had something to say about what the Spirit Awards mean to them. Related coverage:...

"Black Swan" a big winner at the Independent Spirits. (Fox Searchlight) "Black Swan" rose above "The Kids Are All Right" and "Winter's Bone" to take the best picture prize at this year's Independent Spirit Awards, held Saturday afternoon on a particularly gusty day on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif. Darren Aronofsky's portrait of ballet-commitment-turned-madness earned three additional awards: one for Aronofsky's direction, for cinematographer Matthew Libatique and, predictably, for Natalie Portman's lead performance, which is widely expected to be honored during Sunday's Oscars as well. During her acceptance speech, Portman made a point of emphasizing the fact that "Black Swan," which was financed independently before Fox Searchlight signed on to distribute it, qualifies as an indie effort. "My ballet teachers every day were like, when do we get paid?" she said of the drama's modest budget. The Independent Spirit Awards may be thought of as the more laid-back,...